The Devil's 5'5

Chapter 33 - Mission Complete

March 24th, 8:30 AM - HYENA HQ - Chicago, IL Azura's POV

*****

"You'll be discharged at the end of this week."

Sitting in the same debriefing room she had received her mission from, Mano and Mr. Goodwill sat opposite to her. Both wore blank expressions as they shared the news while she was unable to do the same.

"What?" Shocked, to say the least, she thought she would be with him for another few weeks, but now she only had three days.

"You seem surprised," stated Mr. Goodwill, making the obvious statement.

"Well, yes. I thought you weren't scheduled for the raid for at least another two weeks. Why the sudden change?"

He jutted out his bottom lips as his shoulder did a careless shrug. "We have the evidence now, why wait. The sooner we get this done, the better. Weren't you complaining about this mission as well, Agent 69?"

Her intense stare made Goodwill shift slightly in his seat, which would have usually brightened her mood. But with this new information, an uneasy feeling stirred deep within her. There was more to their story because any seasoned agent knew that "evidence" was the last thing to push up a well planned and organized scheme. Had evidence really been the case, they could have made the arrest weeks ago. Whatever the reason, she would never know. 

Mano's left eyebrow rose as he stared at her with slight interest. "We're not going to have a problem during clean-up, are we Agent 69? You didn't compromise the target now, did you?"

By compromise, he meant slept with to which Azura could only grit her teeth in response. 

Inhaling sharply at the accusation, she leaned back into the leather chair, resting her arms on the cold metal armrests. "Jealous, are we? He has definitely grown on me, and what can I say I've become a sucker for the cute little nerd."

Her sly smile only widened when Mano's stare became more intense. "That doesn't answer my question. Are we going to have a problem?"

Her silky hair swayed as she shook her head. "No problem as long as you do your part. I hope your cover story this time isn't as lame as the last one."

She watched as the thin brown file slid across the table and into her open hand. Flicking it open, she skimmed the details, only to heave a sigh. It was the same story as always, yet Azura knew she would have to do a lot more than depend on this flimsy scenario to get her out of this with minimal suspicion.

"Any questions."

Azura was already standing up, ready to leave. She had only one request, and that was to let her stay a week longer. But she already knew how fast that idea would be shot down.

"Where and when is the raid happening?"

Goodwill frowned, clearly wary of why she was making such an inquiry. Before he could shut her down, Mano beat him to it. "That's classified."

"Well, let's hope I don't accidentally stumble upon the location with the target. That would be a shame after all we did to keep him safe." Keeping details like Preston's biological father a secret was hard to uncover but finding the location of the raid was a piece of cake.

"Are you-" But Goodwill was interrupted again as Mano calmly budded in.

"Friday at 10:00 PM. Eastside, at a factory."

She smirked as she nodded thoughtfully to herself. Mano knew of her antics and the antics of her best friends. Noble would easily get her the information if she needed it, and Mano didn't doubt it for a second.